


A Night and the River

by kvroii



Category: Return To Me A Broken Crown
Genre: Alcohol, Late Night Conversations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23452492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kvroii/pseuds/kvroii
Summary: When Kero wakes to find Aichi missing from the lab, he finds his research partner by the river, in need of comfort. [ONESHOT. Hurt/Comfort]
Relationships: Aichi Arlot/Kero Amagi
Kudos: 3





	A Night and the River

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this dumb idea I had really late at night! This takes place after the events of Return To Me A Broken Crown. You can either consider it canon or not; it is canon-compliant and a first-party material, but if you choose to see it as non-canon, that is okay, too.

When Kero woke in the lab, he noticed Aichi was gone. They had both been working on a project the evening before, and when they ended up falling asleep at the desk, Kero thought nothing of it. However, when the cold breeze drifted through the open door and stirred him awake, Aichi was missing.

Kero stood up and swept their notes into a pile, placing an empty mug of tea over the pages to keep them from blowing away. Aichi didn’t leave a note when he left. 

“Where could he have gone?” Kero asked himself. “There’s nowhere to go at this hour.”

He adjusted his turtleneck sweater and walked out the door, closing it behind him. His motorcycle was missing. Kero assumed Aichi took it with him.

Kero stretched his wings, which he didn’t have much practice using. He illuminated his halo brighter to light his path.  
_If Aich disappeared this late, he must be somewhere alone,_ Kero thought to himself. _He either went out to that little spot we have in the woods by the train tracks, or he went to the river. Knowing him, I’d say he chose the latter._

So, Kero lifted himself into the air with his massive wings, and he flew out to the river at the edge of the forest. Even before he landed, he saw Aichi sitting on a rock near the shore, reaching out to barely touch the churning water below.

“Hey, Aich,” Kero called out as he landed. “What brings you here so late?”

Aichi looked up, his azure eyes filled with melancholy. They reflected the light from Kero’s halo, but he quickly turned his gaze back to the water.

“I have a lot on my mind,” he said. His voice, vacant and dull, lacked his usual confidence. “Please go back to the lab for the night. I’ll return by the time the sun rises.”

“What kind of idiot do you take me for, huh? I’m not leaving you alone out here. It’s three in the morning.” Kero boldly crossed the distance between himself and the shoreline. “What if you fall off that rock?”

“I’m not going to fall,” Aichi droned. “I’m fine out here. The water is rather calming tonight. I have a lot I need to think through.”

“And that flask is going to help you?”

“Ah,” Aichi muttered. “So, you saw it.”

Sure enough, Aichi pulled a poorly hidden flask of wine from his coat pocket. He opened it up and drank a considerable amount from it before lowering it from his lips. 

“Of course I saw it, Aich. Do you need someone to talk to?”

“I’d rather not,” said Aichi. 

“Okay. I’ll just sit here to keep you company, then.” Kero sat at the edge of the shore. The frigid water stung his hand when he skimmed it against the surface. He pulled his hand away.

Aichi tossed the flask to Kero.

“Wine’s disgusting,” Kero said dryly, but he drank it anyway. “I don’t know how you like it.”

“It’s my favorite. What’s yours?”

“Anything cheap,” Kero mused. He gave a wry smile, but Aichi wasn’t looking his way. “I mean, nothing your family would have a taste for.”

“Right.”

They sat in silence once again. Occasionally, they passed the flask to each other. Eventually, Aichi decided to break the silence he enjoyed so much up to that point. 

“I’ll join you on the shore now.” Retaining the grace he had when sober, Aichi stepped from the rock onto the riverbank. It wasn’t necessary for Kero to stabilize his landing, but he did anyway, and he realized Aichi was incredibly cold.

“My Gods, Aich. How long were you out here before I showed up?”

Aichi didn’t answer, but Kero didn’t ask again when he saw the regret in Aichi’s eyes. Kero wrapped his long wings around Aichi to keep him warm.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about anything?” Kero asked. Aichi bit his lower lip, a habit he had broken long ago, and turned his gaze away. 

He turned a piece of driftwood over in his hands. “Do you think,” he started, directing his unease to the piece of wood to keep his voice steady. “That maybe we’re too far away from the days we really didn’t have all that much to worry about? And maybe we can’t get them back?”

“Didn’t have to worry? Your family was in shambles and my mother disowned me.”

“Before that. I miss the days when my greatest worries were my studies,” Aichi said. “The days when Percival and I weren’t always at odd ends. The days when you and I didn’t have our own lives to worry about, because we just… were.”

Kero nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. Those days seem long gone nowadays.”

“I don’t know what came over me tonight, thinking about all of this,”Aichi said. “Let’s go back. I think I just needed to get all of that out there. Thanks, Kero.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?”

“I’ve got to be. Life goes on, whether I’m ready or not.” Aichi mustered a weak smile, but his eyes didn’t carry the same levity. 

“You don’t want to go back yet, do you? Look, our research can wait. Let’s stay out here for the night. So what if the world won’t stop for us? It can go on. We’ll join it again when we’re ready, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Now, Aich. There should be a bottle of hot cocoa with my motorcycle. While I get that for you, how about you tell me about some of your favorite constellations? It is a clear night, after all.”

And there they stayed until dawn. With an unspoken sense of understanding and comfort lingering between them, Aichi told Kero the stories of all of his favorite constellations, while Kero listened closely. He knew well enough that he couldn’t completely relieve Aichi of his worries and longing, but just maybe it was enough for them to pretend, even for only a night, that nothing had changed from many years ago.

In the morning, they would return to their lives, and each of them would never speak of that night again. In the morning, their research would be waiting for them.

But that one night… for a while, it was enough.


End file.
